Did you know that a 2019 study found that 72% of customers in the United States discovered a new product through a social media advertising?
Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have leveled the marketing playing field for small businesses around the world. Rather than needing thousands of dollars to secure a feature in a prime spot, you can invest a few dollars each day and put your product or service in front of thousands of qualified customers scrolling through their Facebook or Instagram feeds.
Even so, you need more than a marketing budget to succeed at Facebook and Instagram ads. Social media marketing may be more popular than ever, but it’s also highly competitive and may require some trial and error to dial in your strategy at first.
Fortunately, our team at YourVIBE Marketing can help even the most inexperienced social media advertisers launch their first campaign. To get you started, we created this quick guide with our top three tips for planning your first Facebook and Instagram ad campaign.
Get in touch with our team today for more information or to learn how our team can help your business grow with a customized digital marketing campaign.
1. Define Your Target Audience
Before you launch your advertising campaigns, it’s vital to know three things:
- Who you’re advertising to
- How your product or service solves their problems
- What kind of messaging motivates them to take action
Narrowing and defining your audience may seem counterintuitive; don’t you improve your chances of success if you advertise to everyone? Not exactly. In reality, narrowing your audience enables you to fine-tune your strategies, branding, and messages to resonate with buyers who need your product or service.
To get started, consider factors such as demographics (age, income, location, marital status, etc.), behaviors, and distinct needs. Then, consider ways your product or service can resolve a pain point and enable your customers to achieve their desired outcome.
Facebook and Instagram offer tools to help you refine your audience, too. For example, you can check your insights to determine details like the age, gender, and location of your customers. Then, you can use Facebook’s advertising dashboard to target potential customers based on marital status, interests, and other factors.
2. Set Your Budget
Setting your marketing budget helps you stay on track financially while also measuring the success of your efforts. Without a budget, you’re essentially throwing your hard-earned dollars at Facebook and Instagram and hoping for a return on investment.
Take some time to review your financial circumstances and set aside a certain amount of money for Facebook and Instagram ads each month. For reference, many small businesses allocate around 7% of their revenue to marketing efforts, then split the budget between content marketing, sales efforts, and advertising.
3. Choose Your Content
As you can likely guess, Facebook and Instagram are visual-first advertising campaigns. That means that your target audience isn’t going to read a lengthy post during their first encounter with your brand. Instead, consider content that puts your branding, product or service, and the experience or results you provide front and center.
Some of the best most popular advertising content includes:
Video Ads
72% of shoppers agree that they would rather discover a new product or service through a video. Further, more than 80% of consumers have made a purchasing decision after watching a brand’s video ads. With that in mind, it pays–literally–to invest in video ads for Facebook and Instagram.
You don’t need years of experience editing videos, either. Many free content creation tools like Canva offer simple drag-and-drop templates, making it easy to add existing content to a flashy new ad.
Carousel Ads
If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then carousel ads speak volumes. Carousel ads enable you to combine related photos into a cohesive, striking advertising campaign. With carousel ads, you can highlight your product or service and the feeling or outcome that your customers will obtain by using it.
Story Ads
Instagram initially launched Story ads in 2017. Since then, their popularity on Instagram and Facebook have skyrocketed. Story ads allow you to share your product or service in an easily digestible clip, complete with clickable links and effortless CTAs. Try a mix of photos and videos, then compare your metrics to determine which format your customers respond to best.
Social Media Advertising Strategy
Let’s face it: a lot goes into a successful social media marketing strategy, but our team at YourVIBE Marketing can help. We’ve supported dozens of small business owners just like you as they launch, manage, and scale their Facebook and Instagram advertising strategies. We never use cookie-cutter methods, either. Instead, we partner with you and your team to bring your vision to life.
If you’re ready to launch your most effective marketing campaign yet, you can count on our team. Get in touch with our YourVIBE Marketing team today at request a consultation and learn more about our process.
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